Netflix raises prices by $1 for new subscribers

FILE - In this July 20, 2010 file photo, a Netflix customer uses Netflix in Palo Alto, Calif. Netflix will pay Verizon Communications to help clear up some of the congestion that has been bogging down its Internet video service. The deal marks the second time in less than three months that Netflix Inc. has anted up for a more direct connection to a major Internet service, even though CEO Reed Hastings objects to having to pay for better access. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)(Photo: Paul Sakuma, AP)

SAN FRANCISCO – Netflix is raising its Internet video prices by $1 per month for new customers and giving its current U.S. subscribers a two-year break from the higher rates.

The changes mean anyone signing up for Netflix’s video subscription service beginning Friday will pay $9 per month for in the U.S. The old price of $8 per month will continue until May 2016 for Netflix’s existing 36 million U.S. subscribers.

The price increase, Netflix’s first in nearly three years, isn’t surprise. The Los Gatos, California, company disclosed its plans to raise its rates last month without specifying the precise amount.

Netflix Inc. say its needs more money so it can afford to pay for more original programming along the lines of its Emmy award-winning political drama “House of Cards.”

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